But I Won't Do That
by charmed kitty
Summary: my first judging amy story, please r
1. Today Sucks

But I Won't Do That

Amy walked into her chambers and hung her robe in the closet. She had some time before she had to take the bench that morning. Her goal had been to get away from the craziness in her house, but it felt like she'd brought it with her as she sat at her desk and stared at the pile of work in front of her. She had intended to finish the work the previous night, but things just didn't come together for her. When she got home Lauren needed to be picked up from Taylor's house and the laundry needed to be done. Peter and Vincent were out doing whatever brothers did, and her mother was nowhere to be found until, of course, it was time for dinner; which nobody had prepared but everyone came home expecting to be ready. On top of that she had a splitting headache and the desire to lock herself, and everybody else, in their rooms so that she could have a few minutes of quiet. The stack seemed enormous and Amy couldn't imagine getting through all the cases she needed to review. Things were supposed to get easier in her life now that she was in a relationship and Lauren was older. Why didn't that happen?

"Why is everything so complicated?" she whined out loud before walking over to her couch and lying down with a file pressed to her chest. The door swung open and Amy jumped into a sitting position, fumbling with the file she'd been holding.

The tall, dark man walked in and smugly said, "Judge Gray, I don't think that osmosis is going to work on that case."

Throwing him an annoyed look she responded, "I was resting my eyes."

He looked back at her and scoffed, then nodded as he reminded her, "We've got a lot of cases to get through this morning Judge Gray and I think you're going to need all your strength and patience to deal with your docket." He paused slightly, looking at her lean into the couch. "Five minutes, Judge Gray."

Waving him off, Amy stood and stretched her neck before walking back to her desk. What a nightmare this day was going to be. It was unbelievable that she had even thought she could get through the day without any sort of stress so that she'd be refreshed for her date with David McClaren. Walking to her closet she pulled on her robe and headed for the door. Just then Bruce walked back through the door, almost directly over her.

"Sorry Judge Gray, but we've got to get going, the parties are getting restless." He said while leading her out the door.

"Yah, yah, yah," she responded sarcastically. This was going to be a long day. Donna looked especially keyed up as Amy walked into the courtroom. Giving her a look to say 'cool it', she took her seat and looked out over her courtroom. It was going to be an incredibly hectic day with the Cochran's already up in arms. It couldn't have been more than a month since she'd last had them battling in her courtroom. It was almost always the same thing, 'he said, she said' with the two of them. One parent would chastise the other and all of this somehow ended up in her courtroom, on her docket. It seemed, sometimes, to Amy that they had fights just to punish her. Crossly she banged her gavel, "Enough! I swear if it's not one thing it's another with you two. Now we haven't even started and I'm already about to put ALL of you," she said motioning at the lawyers as well, "into jail. Now just sit down and keep quiet until I tell you to talk!"

"Judge Gray…" the lawyers butted in as their clients began arguing again.

"Did **everyone** miss the part where I asked for quiet?" she was nearly furious as Donna crept up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. "What _is it_ Donna?"

"Judge Gray… I… well… it's just… sorry to interrupt, but you have a call from Lauren's school. They said they need to talk to you right now." Donna quivered and stumbled over the words. It seemed that she couldn't do anything right, and she didn't want to upset her mentor, the woman who's living room she'd given birth in.

* * *

Amy walked into her chambers in a bad mood that had carried over from the court room and picked up the phone with a short, "This is Judge Gray." After listening to the incompetent man on the other line she hung up the phone before burying herself on the desk. Her small frame sunk into the chair and her facial features disappeared as her hair spilled out over the papers lying on the less then organized desk. The man, Lauren's vice principal, was calling her to ask if she could chaperone a school dance. She could not believe that this would be considered an emergency and was furious that he had chosen to call her over the hundreds of other parents whose children attended the school. Bouncing her feet off the ground as a young child would do when throwing a temper tantrum, she hardly noticed Bruce walk into the office. He looked down at her with a smirk on his dark face, thinking about what an interesting person she could be to work for. Nothing was ever the same on any given day, and he knew that those qualities in her were what made his job more tolerable. 

"Judge Gray, the Cochran's are about to kill each other in there, maybe you better carry it over to Thursday." Looking down and trying to catch a glimpse of what she was thinking he began to repeat himself, "Judge Gray…"

"I know, Bruce. The parties are restless, the docket is falling apart, there are a million cases to get through and the apocalypse is coming!" she blurted out with a shrill tone in her voice. She was so frustrated that even listening to the calming words of her CSO was too much to handle. Putting up her hands to stop Bruce from talking she lifted her head from her desk and backpedaled, "I'm sorry, it's not your fault; I know I have to get back in there."

"Judge Gray, is there something going on with you today that I should be aware of? Something between you and McClaren." He inquired. He didn't like McClaren and was increasingly suspicious of the relationship he was trying to have with Judge Gray. Something just felt off about the man.

"Bruce! Just… just drop it okay? Let's go." She said as she pushed past him to reenter the courtroom and deal with the rest of her day. 'Today really sucks,' she thought to herself as she walked down the hall.


	2. Lunch Anyone?

Amy's day didn't get much better leading up to lunch, on the other hand it hadn't gotten much worse, so she was satisfied with the chance to kick box a few snacks out of the vending machine before heading to her Chambers for a 10 minute lunch. She realized when taking the job that she probably wouldn't get much time to herself, but lately 'much time' meant 20 minutes, and that was when she was at home sleeping. Popping open a bag of Fritos, she leaned into her chair and put her feet on the desk. She crunched the chips noisily as she replayed the day in her head. 'I want, I need, I have to have, gimmie, gimmie, gimmie' she thought to herself as she got angrier and angrier at the chips she popped into her mouth. Taking a sip of soda, her feet slammed into the floor as the door burst open and David McClaren walked in.

"I heard you were having a bad day," he smiled. She continued crunching with intermittent sips of soda's as he sauntered into the room with something hidden behind him. "Want to talk about it?"

"First off, I am still having a bad day and second… how did you know?" she asked with a whiney tone in her voice.

"I can hear you crunching down the hall Amy," he said charmingly as he presented her with an unopened bottle of Champagne.

Cooing she replied, "David… I can't… I'm at work."

"For tonight?" he enticed her.

"You're making me wait that long?" she moaned as she put down her soda and chips to embrace him. A kiss, then another and there was fire between them. She could feel it racing through her body, but they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Pulling away from him frigidly, she said, "Yes?"

"Judge Gray, we've got a situation out here. You're going to have to cut this," he paused, motioning at the two of them, "short."

"Can anything just for one minute pretend not to suck monkey balls?" she asked her trusted CSO.

"Monkey Balls?" he asked.

"I don't know, don't all the kids use it? Lauren's been saying it about 10 times a day. Everything sucks monkey balls…" she rambled. Looking at him, and then back up to David who now had a sour look on his face she said, "Okay, I'm sorry, I've got to go." To Bruce she said, "So, whose life are we meddling in this time?"

"The Cochran's." he replied glumly, and then with a smile he added, "They're ba-ack."


	3. Not Tonight

The end of the day came what felt like a week after it started, and Amy's only desire was to curl up into a little ball and hide under the covers like she'd done as a little girl. Massaging her throbbing temples, she paused for a second, looking down at the floor as the room went in and out of focus from the tension in her head. "Well that's always fun," she mumbled to herself.

"What's always fun?" the charming man asked as he grabbed her by the waist and walked her over to the couch, tickling up her body.

"Oh… you." She replied in annoyance.

"Did I say something?" he started defensively. His plans for the night were obviously going to be put on hold until Amy could shake herself out of the current funk she was in. Leaning back on the desk he watched as she moved away from him and began packing her things. "You do remember dinner, right?"

"David, I'm really not in the mood." She replied quickly. She was searching for a file that she had remembered placing on the left side of her desk, but couldn't seem to locate it. He came up behind her again and wrapped his strong arms around her, nuzzling her neck softly. A shiver ran down her neck and she pulled away with anger stating harshly, "David I said not now. Maybe we'll do this tomorrow, okay?"

"Oh, c'mon Amy, you know we always have a great time once we just get there." He tried coaxing her. He'd gone to a lot of trouble to make plans for a special evening and it seemed that her only plan was to ruin them. "It'll be just the two of us… a bottle of champagne…" he began.

"David, it sounds wonderful but I just don't feel up to it tonight. I know you made all these plans, but I just don't feel like being around people right now, okay honey?" she asked, hoping he would get the hint.

"Amy, it's a nice evening. That always helps you relax. If you want, I can send Victor to his Grandmother's and we can go to my place. Skip everything else and just lay in front of the fireplace sipping champagne." He began kissing down her neck, his fingers moving towards the buttons on her blouse. "Then we could…"

"David!" she shouted as she pushed him away. The kisses felt good, and she did want to be with him, but she didn't want it that night. She needed to be alone after such a frustrating day. Her stomach lurched and she put one hand up swiftly to cover her mouth while the other grabbed the desk. Fortunately nothing more happened, and she spoke in a clear and direct tone, "I don't feel well, and I'm going home now."

Walking out the door, she left him standing stunned and confused. Bruce passed a very queasy looking Judge Gray as he headed towards her office. With a single point towards David, he had gotten his point across and David shook his head in frustration and left the office. Bruce closed the office door, locking it before he left, knowing that there was something going on. He just didn't know if it was something he was hoping for, or something he had observed.


	4. Silence and Sickness

Amy lay on top of her bed in her pajama bottoms and tank top, closing her eyes and trying to will herself to fall asleep. For some reason she was unable to escape the outside noises that evening. Lauren was talking on the phone to Taylor, Vincent was banging around with something and Peter was practicing his guitar. It was just like when she'd been young. There was never any peace in the house with so many people, but now it was her house; wasn't it? Putting the pillow over her face she screamed into it inaudibly before flipping over on her stomach and pushing her pillow to one side.

"Mom?" Lauren pushed the door open and entered while talking to her friend, "Mom, Taylor's parents got her new skis and they're going tomorrow, can I go with them?"

"No." Amy's muffled reply came out quietly.

"Why not? Taylor's parents invited me and they're going to be there the whole time! It's not like I'm asking for anything big!" Lauren pouted and whispered into the phone, "Yah, my mom's being a pain, hang on."

"Lauren, tomorrow's Friday. You have school and I am not going to let you go wasting your time skiing when you should be in school learning." Amy said in a harsher tone.

"It's a teacher's workshop tomorrow mom. There's no school." Lauren knew her mom couldn't argue her way out of that and hoped that the answer would be yes. All her other friends got to do things like that and she'd totally die if she wasn't allowed to go.

"Lauren…" Amy whined.

"Come on mom! You're just in a bad mood because you're mad at Victor's Dad for some reason and you're totally taking it out on me!" Lauren was upset and stomping around like she used to do when she was 7. "This sucks monkey balls!"

"You know what Lauren; I will let you go if you can get everyone in the house to be quiet for the next 2 hours." Amy promised, knowing it was a nearly impossible task.

"You promise?" she asked, making sure it wasn't just a trick to get peace in the house.

"Cross my heart, honey." Amy replied, letting her head fall back down to the bed beneath her.

"Does this include people who aren't home right now?" Lauren asked as an idea popped into her head.

"Uh… no," Amy replied, waving her daughter out of the room. Calling out after her, "Lauren, I swear, if I hear one peep out of the three people in this house right now you will not be going skiing with Taylor!"

Amy was fairly relaxed, her body sinking into the quilt on top of her bed, the stress of the day escaping, until she heard the front door open and shut with a quiet bang. Lauren, her clever little daughter, hadn't gotten anyone to be quiet; she'd just removed them from the house. Shaking her head Amy knew she'd have to let her go on the ski trip with her friend, but didn't care about it all that much. All that really mattered was that she would finally be able to get some sleep. Her thoughts drifted off as her eyelids drooped and her breathing slowed. The slow steady sounds of sleep came from her tired body, in no time at all, and almost an hour later that was how Maxine found her.

"Amy, are you in there?" Maxine asked quietly, inching the door open so she wouldn't disturb her daughter too much. She looked over at her sleeping child and smiled slightly before walking in the room and doing a little bit of cleaning. Amy was a grown woman of 39, but that didn't stop Maxine from doing the little things she used to when she'd been a small child of 4. Amy would always be her little baby, and Maxine was happy to have her living in the house again, although she'd seldom admit it. She was happy to have all of her children home again, but just like Amy, Maxine sometimes felt the house was too crowded for its own good.

There had been a note in the kitchen letting Maxine know that Lauren, Peter and Vincent were at the movies. She thought it was an odd place to be on a Thursday night, but shrugged her shoulders and threw the note in the trash. She had been making herself some supper when she noticed Amy's coat hanging on the hook. As far as she was concerned, Amy had a date with David and would be out of the house. She didn't see David's coat and knew instantly that something was up. This was what brought her up the stairs to her daughter's room, after having searched the downstairs portions of the house.

There were case files spilling out of her bag on a chair near her bed and Maxine carefully picked the bag up, tucking the files back in without looking at them. She knew how tempting it could be to want to help Amy with her job, she had a lot of experience in juvenile justice, but that experience could only harm Amy's job. She needed to remain neutral, and she knew it.

Looking over to her daughter's sleeping form, Maxine couldn't help but want to take care of her again and picked up a knitted blanket off the chair and placed it gently over Amy. As Maxine leaned over to kiss her daughter good night, she could see sweat beads building up on her skin. Quickly, she turned the lamp on next to Amy's bed and sat next to her daughter, brushing her hair back from her face and trying to feel if she had a fever. Amy was not the easiest person to deal with when she had a fever, but it was not for that reason alone that Maxine hoped she wouldn't feel anything. The amount of heat radiating off her was clear and Maxine rushed to the bathroom to get a thermometer and cool cloth for her daughters head. She hesitated, wondering if she should really wake Amy up from such a peaceful state; knowing that it was the necessary thing to do.

Giving her a light shake she said, "Amy, Amy honey wake up."

Amy moaned and rolled towards the sound over her mother's voice. She was not yet awake, so Maxine continued, "Come on Amy, you need to wake up for a minute," she coaxed.

"Overruled." She whined at her mother. The babbling would start any minute and Maxine knew it would be best to try and ascertain what her daughters symptoms were before Amy said something that angered her, or passed out. "I'm warning you. One more peep out of you…"

"Shh," Maxine comforted, sticking the thermometer in Amy's partially open mouth. Amy had obviously had a very difficult day at work and it was going to be a longer night for her. Maxine stroked her hair and, with a little whimper, Amy cuddled up next to her. She felt terrible on many different levels and needed someone to comfort her as only a loved one could. As soon as the thermometer beeped she removed it and read the numbers flashing on the small view screen. "102.7, oh Amy honey, you're really sick. Do you want me to call Bruce and tell him you won't be in tomorrow?"

"Oh G-d, no…" Amy mumbled as she pushed herself off of the bed and over to the bathroom. The room spun and she felt as if she was walking sideways up a steep slope. Grabbing out at the air, her feet went out from under her, and she was relieved to feel her mother's strong arms holding onto her and helping her to the bathroom. Maxine crouched behind her, holding her hair back with one hand, holding her daughter steady with the other. Amy knelt on the cold floor, vaguely aware that someone was holding her up, as she vomited forcefully and repeatedly. Soon there was nothing left inside her body and she was left with dry heaves forcing tears to roll down her cheeks.

"Shh, you're okay," Maxine cooed as she rocked her sick daughter back and forth. She was very worried, knowing that Amy didn't get sick too often, and thought that perhaps a trip to the hospital would be necessary. Not wanting to worry her she said, "Honey, why don't we get you back to bed, and um, I'm just going to call Kyle and see how he's doing with that new baby of his."

After halfway carrying Amy over to the bed and covering her, Maxine went to her room and washed her hands, a chill running down her spine. It was one thing to take care of children who were being beaten and neglected, but it was almost more draining to watch her own child be so sick. Dialing the number Kyle had given her the last time he'd called; Maxine tapped her fingers on the hard wood and waited for someone to pick up.


	5. Lemony Snicket

David sat on a chair in his living room. Victor was at his friends for the night, and he had nobody to talk to. Replaying the day's events over and over again in his head, he couldn't figure out what he'd done wrong. Sighing he popped the cork out of the champagne and took a large gulp of the foam that threatened to shoot out of the bottle. A couple swigs later he didn't care what had happened during the day. He set the bottle down on the coffee table and mad his way over to the kitchen, grabbing the strawberries he'd been saving for the evening. Why was she so frustrating? Why couldn't she just for once do anything the easy way? Was he really that hard to deal with?

As he got back to his chair, he flipped on the TV and channel surfed. He didn't know what was on, and he didn't care. He settled on "Access Hollywood" and zoned out to the voices of annoying commentators doing interviews with shallow Hollywood personalities. The bottle was halfway gone in no time and he picked up his phone, determined to do something about the way he'd been treated. The strawberries sat untouched next to his phone, and instead of calling the familiar number he stuck the phone in his pocket and picked up the plate of fruit, sucking the sweetness out of each before throwing them at the wall. His aim was more than slightly off and he watched with amusement as the plopped onto the carpet below. 'I'll clean up later,' he thought. The alcohol had overwhelmed his senses and soon he was drifting off to sleep, with the TV buzzing in the background.

* * *

The line at the movie theater had been long and somehow Lauren had managed to convince her two Uncles to take her out to dinner before the movie. They'd gotten some Chinese food to go and sat in the lobby of the theater where it was warmer, waiting for their show to start. They had nothing better to do as they'd been sent out of the house, and Lauren thought it would be a great way to get a movie in for free. Usually she'd have to wait for her Mom to feel guilty enough about something to give her money so she could go with someone else. Her mom worked so hard all the time that when she did see her, she never got to do all the things she wanted to do. Deep inside Lauren knew that her mom was doing what was best for her by not spoiling her like her friends parents did, but she wished that Amy would spoil her more. Lauren was lost in her own little world of moo shu chicken while Peter and Vincent went back and forth about the movie they were waiting to see.

"Have you heard anything about this movie?" Vincent sighed, reluctant to watch what seemed to be a kid's movie.

"Uh… yah, I have. It's based on some books. Gillian and I are thinking about getting them for Ned when he's old enough." Peter said.

"So it is a kid's movie?" Vincent asked.

"No, not really. It's all about this guy who's trying to steal the fortune of his…" Peter was cut off by Lauren who, naturally didn't want to hear the entire plot before seeing the movie.

"Come on Uncle Peter! Don't ruin this one like you did to Aunt Gillian with the Titanic." Lauren complained. Seeing that Peter was going to respond she put up her hand to stop him quickly, "I haven't seen it either you know!"

"Lauren," Vincent paused for dramatic effect with a silly smile on his face, "the ship sinks."

Lauren rolled her eyes and threw the empty carton away. Her watch timer was ringing, signaling the start time for the movie. "Popcorn?" she asked.

Vincent surrendered to her begging eyes and bought 2 large tubs of popcorn and three sodas to wash down what they'd just eaten. As they were finding seats, Peter's cell phone began going off insistently.

"Uncle Peter!" Lauren cried; face turning bright pink by the embarrassment of having someone she knew forget to turn their cell phone off in a movie theater. "Turn it off!"

Peter checked the caller ID; looking at Vincent with a concerned expression he hung up obediently, but wondered who could be calling them. He was sure they'd left a note at the house. Subsequently Vincent's phone began to go off, the ring even louder than Peter's. The previews were starting and Lauren got up, marching out of the theater with her Uncles in tow. There was no way she could enjoy the previews without a serious lecture on movie etiquette being given.

Folding her arms and tapping her toe, she looked up at the two older men and said in a brisk tone, "Well?"

"Why don't you and Vincent go back in, I'm just going to check my messages and then I promise I'll come right in and sit down. You wouldn't want to miss the beginning of the movie Lauren." Peter suggested. Lauren still looked a little peeved, but agreed to go back in only after she'd confiscated Vincent's cell phone and turned it to silent. As Lauren began walking back to the theater, Peter asked, "Mom call you too?"

Vincent nodded and began walking to catch up with Lauren, "You better hurry Peter or you'll miss 'Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'." He teased, trying to ease his own mind.

Peter chuckled and called the number of the missed call. It rang four times before an obviously stressed out woman answered, "Mom, is everything okay?" he asked with a growing concern.


	6. Out Cold

Amy was still out cold on her bed after Maxine had hung up with Kyle. Of course her nephew advised her against taking Amy to the hospital, but what did he know? He was only a doctor! This was her flesh and blood looking like death warmed over, and Maxine wasn't good at taking peoples advice to heart in normal situations, much less ones like the one she was in at the present. She felt the stress of a mother in danger of making a serious mistake about the care of a newborn be thrust upon her as she looked at her helpless daughter laying on the bed and knew that she should call Peter. After reaching both Peter and Vincent's message machine's she was almost relieved to hear the phone ringing. She figured that one of her two sons was probably calling back.

As Maxine reached over to pick up the phone she heard a soft thump from behind her and raced to where she'd left Amy on the bed. There, next to the nightstand was Amy in a pile on the floor. She looked so pale that Maxine almost forgot about the ringing phone she held in her hand. Her hands quivered as she answered the phone, and spoke quickly while trying to figure out what had happened.

"Peter? I need you or Vincent to come home right now." Maxine said into the phone. Her voice was strained and she knelt down next to her fallen daughter. Holding the receiver away from her mouth she spoke softly, "Amy… Amy, wake up honey. Amy?"

"Mom, what's wrong?" he asked, his business mindset kicking into gear. Was something broken, vandalized, on fire? He didn't know what was going on, but could hear his mother saying Amy's name. He heard a loud noise on the phone and began walking towards the door, forgetting about the two people inside watching the movie. Peter asked again, louder, "Mom, what happened?"

"It's Amy…" was all she had to say before she heard Peter hang up the phone.

Peter looked around for his car keys as he ran out to where they'd left the car, but soon realized that they were in Lauren's purse. Running back in, he was stopped by the manager before he ripped the ticket stub out of his pocket and threw it at the surprised man. He ran down the aisle to where Lauren and Vincent had been sitting before, but didn't see them. Looking around in the darkness frantically, he ran up and down the aisle, searching for their faces. Finally he spotted them and dashed over. "Lauren, I need the car keys."

Annoyed and whispering loudly she asked, "Why?"

Vincent's brow was furrowed, full of worry and he grabbed the keys from Lauren, saying to Peter, "You stay, let me go." He could tell his older brother was grateful not to have to be rushing away to wherever he was going, but even still Vincent wasn't sure that he'd made the right choice. Jumping into the car he knew he didn't have time to think about the worst case scenario and sped home, wondering what would be waiting for him there.

* * *

Maxine sat on the floor with Amy lying next to her, still unconscious. There was no way to tell exactly what had happened and she wasn't responding at all, she wasn't waking up. Pulling Amy from her crumpled form on the floor into a sitting position was difficult, she was thin, but moving an adult sized body was always a challenge, especially with no leverage. As she straddled her legs out and pulled Amy back into her chest, she was happy to see there were no visible cuts or bumps, she hadn't hit her head on anything in the fall.

"Amy, wake up baby, come on." She coaxed, stroking the curls back from Amy's face. She rocked her back and forth carefully, hoping that someone would come home soon. Despite her strength she would not be able to get Amy to the car on her own, and Amy wasn't going to be much help if she was unconscious.

"Mmmm…" Amy moaned as she began to come around. Everything was very hazy, and she was beginning to lose it again. "Are we on a boat?"

"No dear, you're at home," Maxine said, comforting her daughter and herself. Amy may have been babbling, but her being conscious was a great comfort to Maxine who had nearly allowed the tears to fall down her worn cheeks.

"Where are we going now?" Amy asked. The gentle rocking motion upset her senses even more than usual and the bedroom she'd been sleeping in for over 5 years was shifting around, as if she was underwater trying to stand on her head and view it.

Maxine made no effort to respond to Amy's rambling, instead pulling herself off the floor, and helping the feeble Amy into bed. Kissing her daughter on the forehead, she tucked her in and sat on the edge of the bed, almost as a precaution saying, "You rest now, honey, you just rest."

When she heard the front door open and slam, a sigh of relief came over her entire body. Amy was semi-conscious, still mumbling nonsensical things as Maxine calmly got her coat and a blanket for the trip.

"Mom?" Vincent called up the stairs, not knowing for sure what was going on.

"Vincent? Vincent, I'm in Amy's room." She shouted back at him, looking over at Amy who barely reacted to the loud voices. "Vincent... are Lauren and Peter with you?"

"No," he replied breathlessly after hurdling up the stairs to Amy's bedroom. "No, they're at the movies. I volunteered to come home."

"Good," Maxine handed Vincent the blanket and began trying to put a coat around Amy's shivering frame.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked. Looking over at Amy, his normally vibrant older sister, and seeing her looking so pale was shocking to Vincent and he almost didn't know how to react to her image.

"Is Peter's car out front?" Maxine asked. It was as if it was more okay to slow down now that someone was here. She didn't need to be in as big of a rush.

"Yah, yah it is… can she uh… can she get there on her own mom?" he asked, tripping over the words. Vincent had never been good at dealing with sick people; it was why he'd had problems with Carol's cancer and why he wished he was at the movies instead of at home. As he spoke, Amy began to gag, and he turned away, not knowing what would happen.

Maxine on the other hand acted quickly, holding onto Amy and trying to get her back to the bathroom incase there was more left inside of her fragile body that needed to be expelled. Vincent backed out of the room, calling to the two, "I'll just, uh, get Peter's car ready… you know just in case."

As he began running back down the way he came, Vincent heard Amy let out a low groan, followed by Maxine's ear piercing cry, "Vincent! Vincent get back here, I need you now!"


	7. Hoops and Phones

Bruce went directly home after work, still thinking about his encounter with David McClaren. Ever since he'd first heard of the guy, something rubbed him the wrong way. He knew that he was a good judge of character, but he also knew that he couldn't interfere with Judge Gray's love life without risking their friendship, which he greatly valued. It was difficult, therefore, to watch her leave and know that David McClaren probably had something to do with the reason why. Trying to put those thoughts out of his mind, he looked forward to getting home to Rebecca, his daughter. She was the same age as Lauren, but this wasn't a big topic of conversation when he and Judge Gray were together. Keeping his professional distance had also meant glossing over parts of his life that she could possibly help him with, or at least help him understand more. Pre-teen girls were hard to deal with.

As soon as he got out of his car and looked up at the windows of his apartment he was in a bad mood. There were no lights on, which meant that Rebecca had decided to go to a friend's house and had probably gotten her Aunt Winnie's permission. Winnie, of course, had neglected to let him know about it. Sighing, Bruce got changed, left a note incase Rebecca came home for anything and went to a local court to shoot some hoops. There was so much frustration circling around him that he knew exercise would be the best way to alleviate some of his aggression.

Whenever an ambulance buzzed by the court, Bruce couldn't help looking up, hoping that his daughter wasn't in the back of it. He knew that because of Rebecca's epilepsy she was especially likely to find her way into a hospital bed, and it wasn't something that would change too much with age. The doctors had never told him much about why this happened, or really whose genetic fault it was. Somehow he always blamed himself. All part of that Catholic guilt that he prided himself on; that he lived by. His religion was something that was very important to him, but also something that he knew would always keep him from having any sort of meaningful relationship with Judge Gray. She couldn't understand why he felt the way he did and he was generally at a loss when trying to explain it to her. There was no easy way to describe his feelings about his beliefs, just as there was no real way to overcome the racial barrier between them. All of these thoughts floating through his head made for some very poor shooting, yet he continued. Finally, he called it a night and packed up his gear, heading for his car and deciding what to have for dinner.

* * *

For the fifth time in the 3 minutes since Vincent had left the theater, Peter checked to make sure his phone was on, and that he hadn't missed a call. Little attention was being paid to the movie he had once been so eager to see, and after checking his phone 5 more times, he excused himself and squeezed past Lauren. Pacing back and forth in the lobby, staring at the phone, he tried to will it to ring to no avail. Walking back in, he scooted past Lauren again and sat down, quickly checking his phone. He couldn't shake the words of his mother, 'It's Amy…', and hoped that everything was okay. He was a natural born worrier, and when it came to his family Peter was especially sensitive. Amy was his little sister, and while she wasn't always the easiest person to get along with, he would always feel some inherent need to protect her from the outside world.

Lauren looked over at her uncle with a scowl on her face. All she wanted to do was enjoy the movie, and so far she'd been embarrassed and blocked from seeing it. Why was it so hard for her family to do a relatively simple activity like watching a movie without chaos? Spinning around sharply towards Peter she whispered, "Uncle Peter, quit it!" and was relieved to see him put the phone in his pocket. The feeling of relief was short lived as a minute later; Peter pulled the phone out again. Rolling her eyes, she stared up at the screen, praying he wouldn't make a scene.

Folding her arms over again, she put her feet up on the seat in front of her in an effort to prevent Peter from getting up and blocking her and everyone else's view. It wasn't long before Lauren found herself the victim of many shushes and stares as Peter kept opening and closing his cell. This not only caused a distraction with the clicking sound it made by being closed, but the light that came on was taking away from a movie which was beginning to get really exciting. Letting out a small whimper, Lauren scooted down further in her seat, face bright red.

Peter was barely aware of the fact that people found his constant checking of his cell annoying and continued, despite the looks and warnings he received from Lauren. Twenty minutes had soon passed and he knew that Vincent must be home by then, probably taking care of the whole situation. When no calls came ten minutes later, he was exasperated and could sit still no longer. Lauren was visibly upset and humiliated; she readily agreed to go into the lobby, not knowing that they wouldn't be returning for the rest of the movie.

"Uncle Peter! What is with you? I thought you wanted to see this movie!" Lauren cried. Now, not only had she been humiliated, but she probably wouldn't get to go skiing with Taylor if they went home and made a lot of noise. Pulling her jacket on was an after-thought as Peter pulled her outside towards the parking lot. "Uncle Peter? We don't have the car keys anymore, remember? Vincent took them."

"Damnit!" Peter exclaimed as he pulled Lauren back inside with him. He'd have no other choice but to call Gillian, knowing full well that it would mean bundling the boys up and take at least 20 minutes for her to get here. His main concern was to try not to worry Lauren, but he knew he wasn't doing a very good job of that as worry was written all over his face. "I'll get us a ride home, don't worry about a thing."

"Is something going on you don't want me to know about?" Lauren asked cautiously, suddenly concerned with why Vincent had left in such a hurry, "Is everything okay?"

"Yah, I'm sure everything's just fine Lauren, don't worry about a thing." He lied, trying to protect his 12 year old niece from the truth; whatever the truth was.

Lauren looked into his eyes, trying to get a sense of what he really meant, but was startled when a horn honked across the parking lot. She knew she had no real choice but to have faith in her Uncle, but it didn't mean she wouldn't worry. Something was going on, and she was definitely old enough to know about it, wasn't she?

"Hi, Gillian… it's me… Peter! Look, Lauren and I really need a ride home from the movies. Yes we took the car here… no, Gillian… no… Vincent has the car right now. I'll explain later, okay?" he spoke quickly, away from Lauren, so that she wouldn't hear what he said. "Okay, see you in 15 minutes, thanks. She'll be here soon."

"Okay," Lauren said, nodding her head. Shivering a little, she sat down on a bench and texted her friends while she waited, wondering about what was happening and what it would mean for her.


	8. And Then

Vincent sat in the drivers' seat, staring straight ahead as he drove down the darkened streets of Hartford. He made no effort to look behind him as he concentrated on the street signs, trying not to recall what he'd seen. He had little luck getting the mental picture out of his head however and had to physically shake himself free of the memory every 30 seconds in order to drive safely.

Maxine had put the moment almost entirely out of her head, she knew that dwelling on the moment wouldn't do anyone any good, and her chief concern was getting to a doctor quickly. She knew there was a strong possibility that Amy was merely suffering from a nasty virus and being overworked, but what she'd seen in a short time had convinced her of the need to get to a hospital as quickly as possible. She sat in the back, holding Amy close to her, kissing the top of her head every couple minutes for security.

For Amy, the moment had not ended; it was like a long nightmare. She was semi-aware of the urge to vomit, and had felt herself being dragged away from her bed and towards the bathroom. Vincent was leaving, she noticed an annoyed look on her mother's face as she tried to position herself so she could walk on her own. The world changed quickly as she no longer felt ill, instead feeling dizzy and cold, the room went dark for what seemed like a moment and then she suddenly found herself in Vincent's arms being carried down the front stairs to a car. Where they were going, or if she was dressed appropriately didn't concern her as she felt someone slide in next to her and prop her up. Whoever it was felt warm and soft and Amy lay her head down as the someone placed a kiss knowingly on her head. The ride seemed to go on forever, but she barely remembered any of it as she faded in and out of consciousness.

* * *

Gillian pulled up just in time to see Peter pacing back and forth like a nervous wreck. Something was going on, and he wasn't doing a good job of hiding his concern from the world. Fortunately, her niece was so engrossed in a conversation with someone she wasn't even looking in Peter's direction. Wondering how long Peter had been waiting didn't concern her as she'd been plenty annoyed to have received his call in the first place. She knew it was something she needed to do, but at a huge inconvenience. Walt had finally settled into his car seat for a nap and Ned was reading a Dr. Seuss book to himself, so she didn't honk the horn.

'With my luck, I'll have to get out and remind him to get in the car,' she thought. As it stood, luck seemed to be on her side as Peter immediately noticed them pull up and grabbed Lauren by the elbow, hurrying her over to the mini-van.

"Hey Uncle Peter? Can you guys just drop me off at Taylor's house? We can pick up my stuff tomorrow before we leave; besides it's on the way." She hoped the answer would be yes. Going to Taylor's house seemed like a much nicer alternative then trying to deal with whatever was going on at home… besides, Taylor had asked and it was rude to turn down an invitation, wasn't it?

"Uh, I don't know Lauren… now might not be a very good time…" Peter hesitated, not knowing how much to tell her as he didn't know a lot in the first place. "Maybe when we get home you can ask your mom."

"But then you'd waste more gas and it would be totally bad for the environment and make the hole in the ozone layer way bigger!" Lauren protested.

"Oh, if your mother said it was alright then I could drop you off on the way home from your house, Lauren." Gillian volunteered, not aware of the situation.

"No! I mean… no, it'd still be wasting gas and make more fumes and maybe Walt would wake up and shouldn't Ned go to bed soon and…" she trailed off, knowing it was a losing battle.

"Well, Peter maybe we can drop her off and then if Amy says no we can always just pick her up again." Gillian suggested.

"Yes! I know she'll say yes!" Lauren grinned from ear to ear. "I'm going to call Taylor and tell her we're on our way. Oh, Aunt Gillian, turn left here."


	9. Open Doors

Sitting in the emergency room, Vincent patiently waited while Maxine stood at the reception counter arguing with the man in front of her. She was not in a patient mood, and didn't feel like sitting back and waiting her turn.

"This woman is a Judge, and so help me… if anything happens to her while we're waiting…" the tone of her voice was very serious and threatening.

"Look lady, there's plenty of important people here, but we have to see the most severe cases first and there are about 10 people ahead of her." He said with an annoyed look on his face. The nasal tone only angered Maxine more as she drew in a deep breath to argue her case further. She was interrupted mid-speech by a soft voice beckoning her over.

"Ma... really this isn't going to help anything. Amy's asleep, might as well just wait it out." Vincent whispered so as not to stir a sleeping Amy.

Giving up, she shot the man one last look with a warning, "If any of these people gets in ahead of my daughter, you'll be hearing from a SCORE of lawyers."

Sitting down once again, she picked up a magazine and tried to become interested in the articles about gardening she found. It was difficult to read as she constantly scanned the waiting room, and checked Amy. She wasn't sure why she felt so nervous, she'd been in tougher situations before.

* * *

After Peter and Gillian had dropped Lauren off, they pulled up to the house. The lights were all off, and the front door stood ajar. Peter looked over at his estranged wife and said, "Wait here…"

She held the now awake Walt close as she watched Peter exit the van. If there was someone in that house, she wanted to be ready to leave quickly with Peter, so she left the engine running. When he came out slowly, her panic level rose further. "What is it Peter?"

"Nobody's home… I think they just forgot to close the door…" he said, still in shock.

"Well is that a bad thing?" she asked, confused.

"I don't know. Mom called me, something about Amy… and now they're gone. They left pretty quickly I guess if nobody locked the front door." He gazed past Gillian, wondering what was going on.

"Maybe they…" she paused. She couldn't think of a good reason why they would leave the house so quickly, other than the obvious. "Don't worry, just lock the door and get in. We can drop Ned and Walt off with Margie."

Peter jumped in the car and got Walt back in his seat while they drove; debating whether or not to call Lauren.


	10. Silent Rings

Vincent sat silently in the now near-empty waiting room. Amy had been taken into an exam room and Maxine was refilling her cup of coffee and attempting, for the umpteenth time, to find out which room Amy was in. Checking his watch, he knew that Lauren and Peter were most likely still enjoying the movie, still he wished someone would call so he wouldn't be so bored. It was hospital policy that cell phones must be turned off while inside due to the risk of the signal interfering with the equipment, but he didn't bother as he was in the waiting area and not even close to any sort of equipment.

"Vincent, these incompetent… these people… won't tell me anything about Amy." She took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself before continuing. "Have you heard anything from Lauren and Peter?"

"No, they're probably still watching the movie." He said quietly.

"You mean he hasn't even…" she trailed off as Peter and Gillian burst through the ER doors. "Peter, Gillian... where's Lauren?"

"We dropped her off at a friends house, the kids are with my friend Margie. Maxine, what's going on? We saw the open door and rushed here as quickly as we could." Gillian asked, more concerned than she'd been about her family-in-law in months.

"I don't know… Amy's ill and these PEOPLE won't tell me anything." She shot a glare to the nurses station as her volume intensified.

"I tried to call you, Vincent, what's with the silent treatment?" Peter asked, annoyed that he'd rushed here with his estranged wife in a panic.

"Peter, I didn't get any calls, honestly," he started while pulling out his phone. He took one look at the screen and upon seeing the '15 missed calls' shook his head and sighed. "Lauren turned my phone to silent in the theater; I guess I never switched it back."

It was then that a tall man in teal scrubs approached them. He wore glasses and seemed nearly a head taller than Peter; something that seemed more appropriate for a basketball player than a doctor. "Gray family?"

"Yes, yes that's us. Where is my daughter?" Maxine asked, not letting a moment of hesitation go by before responding to his inquiry.

"She's in Exam 2…" he started as the older woman blew past him and the nurses with their hands out to block her. Clearing his throat he tried to laugh off what had just happened and suggested they wait here while he talked to Maxine. Amy, after all, didn't need 4 visitors all at once.


	11. Until Then

"Ma'am, ma'am…" the doctor called after Maxine as she flew through the door and wound up at Amy's side. "Ma'am…"

"What?" she asked exasperated at the fact that this doctor was standing idly by instead of giving her answers. "What is it?"

"You are her mother?" he asked, wanting to confirm what she'd said in the waiting room.

"Yes, I am her mother, Maxine Gray." She said curtly, "Now what is going on with my daughter? Or do I need to go to another waiting room and wait for you to do more idiotic tests with the sole purpose to extract money from her paycheck?"

"Mrs. Gray, I understand you're upset but there's really nothing to worry about. Your daughter should be fine in a few days; it looks like she's got gastroenteritis, nothing that needs much concern. We put her on an antiemetic, and an IV drip to rehydrate her, but it's nothing to worry about." He assured in a flat tone, used by doctors who had lost all the enthusiasm for their work after years of mindless, menial chores.

"In English…?" Maxine asked, now irritated that she was unable to fully comprehend what he was saying.

"She's got the stomach flu, Mrs. Gray, we've given her something to help with the nausea and vomiting, she should be fine in a few days." He said, shaking his head.

"Thank you for your help, doctor." She said sternly as Amy looked over to her mother with a pained expression on her face, "You read to go home?"

Amy nodded, eyes barely open, forehead wrinkled and confused. However much the medicine they had given her may have 'helped' she still felt like crap and was not fully aware of what was going on. She did notice the annoyed look on her mother's face, knowing that if she ever came into contact with the tall doctor again, he'd need to watch his back.

Outside a man waited, coldly calculating his next move… she would understand some day. Some day, she would figure it all out, and he would be there to watch as she fell through the very cracks she tried so desperately to keep watch over.


	12. PopTarts and Coffee

"You may be my mother, but this is my house!" Amy insisted with as much strength as she had. "I'm going to work today."

"Amy, you were just in the emergency room last night, I'm sure the justice system can survive for a few days without you." Maxine pushed her daughter into a chair, taking her purse and coat away.

"Well they certainly haven't been able to so far…" she mumbled.

"Amy, just trust me all right? You need your rest, I will call Bruce and Donna and let them know, but right now you need to get back in bed." She commanded.

"Ma, as much as I trust you, I've got to go to work today." Amy said, pushing her way back up and out of the chair. She grabbed the coat and purse from an angry Maxine and headed towards the door, pausing for a moment as the world began to spin. "Whoa…"

Maxine was right on top of things as she saw Amy hesitate for a second; rushing over, she put one hand on her daughters back and another gripped her left arm. "Let's get you back to bed Amy."

"Okay, I think that might be a good idea." Amy said as she was nearly carried back to her bed by Maxine. While her fever had gone down tremendously overnight, she could feel it rising again as she leaned on her mother for support. As soon as she was on the bed, Amy put her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, willing her body to fight against the virus she'd caught. Her mind drifted and suddenly her eyes popped open, "Lauren!"

"She's going skiing with her friend Taylor, Amy." Maxine reassured her. "When she comes by the house to pick up her things, I'll try and get her in and out as quickly as possible."

"And then we'll have a party." Amy said in the delirium which had begun as quickly as it had ended the previous night.

"Of course we will, dear." She said as she walked out the bedroom door, heading down the stairs to where her sons were most likely eating breakfast.

"Hey, how's Amy?" Vincent asked with his mouth full of cereal. It wasn't that he was intending to be rude; more that he didn't want his breakfast ruined with a graphic description of how his older sister was doing. For that reason, he ate as quickly as he could.

"Her fever's back up, but I wouldn't worry too much about it." Maxine tried to convince herself and her sons.

"Coffee?" Peter asked, offering Maxine a mug.

"Thank you Peter," she said with a smile. "How's your relationship with Gillian? It certainly seemed a little better last night at the hospital."

"It's fine mother, just fine." He responded crossly, "I love having to call my estranged wife and going through a complicated family mini-crisis with her while our boys should be happily tucked into their beds."

"Well you could have just called a cab company, Peter." Maxine wasn't about to let her son off the hook for speaking like that to her.

"I know, I know I'm sorry." Peter said as he put down his half-eaten bowl of cereal and headed towards the door. "I might be a little late tonight; I've got a meeting with a couple potential clients set up for dinner."

Pointing to her cheek, she got the customary kiss from her son before he walked out the door. After downing her coffee and grabbing some things for her lunch which would no doubt be eaten at her desk in the office or somewhere in her car as she was driving; Maxine grabbed a pop-tart for her breakfast and dropped it into the toaster oven.

"Okay Mom, I've got to go." Vincent said, clearing his dishes and giving his mother a kiss on the cheek. "Charity waits for no man."

"Bye baby," Maxine said as she collected her pop-tart from the toaster oven and wrapped it in a napkin to eat it.

"So I just told her that we were going to…" Lauren stopped suddenly as she saw her grandmother standing in the middle of the kitchen, observing herself and Taylor walking into the house in mid-conversation. "Mom said I could go skiing with Taylor."

"I know that Lauren. Why don't you go on up and pack your things quickly, your mother's a little under the weather right now." Maxine smiled rigidly.

"Is she like…? I mean… does she like have a fever?" Lauren asked, hoping the answer was no. She knew how strange her mother could be when she was sick.

"Yes she does, so she needs her rest, the quieter you are… the less likely she is to wake up." Maxine encouraged.

"No problem!" Lauren called down the stairs as she took them two by two, "Just wait right there Taylor! I'll be down in like a minute!"


	13. Tardy

Castles, giants, clouds filled with rain, birds flying high in the sky, shrieking, calling out loudly and interrupting her in her flight. Slowly Amy began waking up to the sound of the telephone. She reached, with all the energy she had for the phone, but it wasn't enough to make the ringing stop. The next noise came from the pager she had with her, but it was tucked into her large purse which was conveniently located at the other end of her bedroom, a place she could not even fathom reaching. When her cellular phone began ringing, Amy found the strength to grab it from off her nightstand. Flipping open the cover she moaned softly into it, "Hello?"

"Judge Gray?" a nervous voice said at the other end of the line. "Is that you?"

"Uhm…" she trailed off, hoping that the voice would go away so she could go back to sleep soon.

"Judge Gray? Are you okay? We've been trying to reach you for over an hour! Are you in traffic?" the voice said hurriedly.

"Traffic?" she questioned, suddenly unsure of her surroundings.

"Well we…" the voice was cut off and she could hear a rather loud discussion in the background.

"Judge Gray, it's Bruce. We've got a pretty full docket today, any chance you'll get here soon?" he asked, checking his watch for the umpteenth time. They'd been trying to reach her all morning, and that had included calling Maxine on more than one occasion to no avail. Sean had repeatedly told Bruce and Donna that Maxine was working a difficult case and had 'forgotten' to bring her pager with her, a typical move on the part of Maxine Gray.

"Bruce?" she asked, confused. The haze was slowly lifting from her head as she looked around the room. She was in her bedroom; looking over at the clock she realized she'd been asleep nearly 3 hours. Her hand moved to her face and forehead, she definitely still had a fever. "Bruce why are you… didn't someone call you?"

"Call me? No, is something going on?" he asked, brow raised, forehead wrinkled with lines of concern.

"Uh… I don't know… hang on," she rolled herself over, trying to make her way out of bed and gave up after a moment of struggling, "I'm… uh… I'm sick today, but I'll let you know."

"Judge Gray?" he asked, confused with the message he'd just gotten. What was she going to let him know about? He heard the phone click and shook his head, turning to Donna. "It appears Judge Gray is sick, so you know what that means… we're going to need to find another judge or carry all the cases over until Monday and take the day off, what do you think?"

"A new Judge is very tempting," Donna said with her eyes gleaming, then gave him a punch in the arm and laughed, "Day off sounds good to me!"


	14. Lunch Anyone? Pt 2

"Amy?" he asked, knocking on the closed office door. "Amy? Hello?"

A tall black man opened the door with a swift jerk and looked at the person on the other side of the door who was disturbing his concentration. He raised his eyebrows at the visitor, having been in the middle of trying to dump a docket full of cases on some other CSO's. "Can I help you?"

"Yah, I was just looking for Amy… Judge Gray." He responded to the intimidating presence that was blocking his view of the room. "We have a lunch date."

"Not today you don't." he said matter-of-factly. He began to close the door when the smaller man pushed his way inside. "I told you…"

"Well I want to hear it from her." He said forcefully. "I want to hear her tell me what's going on if that's okay with you Mr. Van Exel."

"The Judge is not in today, but then I thought someone who was supposed to have lunch with her would know that." He replied smugly.

"Thank you, for your help Mr. Van Exel." He bit back before turning and storming down the hall. What exactly had happened in the previous 24 hours that had made her so unavailable to him? Had he done something? Pulling out his cell phone he quickly found her number and hit 'talk'. First she broke off their date the previous night, and now she missed lunch without even bothering to call him. When the automated voice came on asking if he'd like to leave a message he hung up and called again. He was in no mood to be told by some automated machine that Amy was unable to come to the phone, she was never more than a few feet away from it and if she was avoiding him then he wanted to know why.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon… pick up the damn phone. I know you're there." He said into the phone as he called a 4th time.

When she realized that whoever it was had no intention of giving up, Amy answered the phone with an annoyed, "What do you want?"

"Well, for you to pick up the phone would be a nice start." David said; shocked at how upset she sounded.

"What's your problem?" she whined.

"Lunch… you… me… the deli down the street… any of this ring a bell?" he was trying to sound a little bit charming to put her in a better mood.

"What are you talking about?" she was confused. Her head throbbed, her body ached all over and she knew that the last thing she wanted to be doing was talking about food when she couldn't even think about keeping any down.

"Well, at least I can see how much our relationship means to you." He muttered. A second later he regretted it as he heard her groan. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

"Sure you did." She said quietly. Putting her free arm over her face, she spoke stiffly into the phone, "David I'm not having lunch with you today because I'm not at work. I'm not at work because I'm at home and I'm at home because I've been vomiting stuff I ate in the 4th Grade for the past 18 hours. Got it?"

"Amy, I didn't know! I'm…" he heard the distinctive click and looked to his phone, not even bothering to complete the thought, knowing he would have a lot of work to do to make it up to her.


	15. PostIts

"Amy? Are you awake honey?" Maxine asked as she walked into the room and spotted Amy snarling at the cordless phone she held in her hand. "I thought I heard the phone ringing, who called?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Amy said, letting the phone fall back onto the bed as she curled up with her pillow once more.

"Sean gave me the rest of the day off, seems I'm a nuisance when it comes to authority figures visiting the office. How are you feeling?" she asked as she reached over to check the temperature of the woman who was trying to crawl under her blankets.

"It's incredible Ma, I don't think I've ever been so wanted as I was today…" she trailed off as Maxine put a cool cloth on her forehead.

"Wanted?" she repeated. "In what way?"

"First Donna called, and then I talked to Bruce… I think." Amy mumbled as she recounted the list of times she'd heard the phone ring. The latest and most frustrating had been David, but the list included a good deal of DA's and other court personnel who didn't understand the meaning of 'Sick Day'.

"Oh dear, I knew I'd forgotten to call someone this morning." Maxine muttered as she hung the phone up. "Do you think you can eat something?"

"Mmm…" the voice under the covers was unclear and Maxine wasn't sure if it was a yes, a no, or an 'I'm sleeping'.

"Well I'm going to make you some nice broth, see if that helps." Maxine said as she headed for the door.

"No." Amy said clearer as she popped her head back out from under the covers and straightened the cooling cloth.

"Well why don't I make some anyways and then if you're hungry later you can have some." Maxine insisted.

"Fine." She closed her eyes again, not knowing when or if the phone would ring again, not caring as much as she drifted back into her fever-induced haze.

"Maxine Gray," she answered the phone as quickly as she could. Clearly a ringing phone was the last thing her daughter needed to hear. "Well was it my fault that happened? Oh… oh, I see. Well then next time he visits why don't you tell me ahead of time so that I can clear my desk of all files and folders? Really Sean, you'd think you would have learned by now that my desk and anything in the area immediately surrounding it is where I keep my files. My files are not to be confused with files that some corporate mucky-muck with no interest in the actual welfare of children whose only concern is cutting benefits and improving statistics so that he looks better to the public… Yes, I realize that you are my boss Sean. When have I ever treated you as if you were something other than a boss? That doesn't count, you were new."

"Hey mom…" Vincent began talking as he walked through the door to find his mother engrossed in what was clearly a frustrating conversation, "Mom… do you…"

"Vincent! Sean, I can't talk right now. Uh-huh, right. Bye." She said cheerfully as she hung up the phone; happy to get out of the discussion of the threatening post-its that had been left in distinct places all over her desk and files. There had even been one on the trash can next to her desk with the message, 'any prying hands stuck inside me STAY inside me'. Apparently the man from the State hadn't found it quite so amusing.


	16. Trash Bags

AN- A short update, but I'm doing what I can

* * *

"Mom, what was that all about?" Vincent asked with a chuckle as he kissed his mother on the cheek and searched the fridge for snack food.

"Just some nosy self-righteous member of…" she trailed off, looking back at her son. "Did you need something?"

"No… well… yah; actually I was wondering if someone had taken the garbage out today. There's a big bag of trash sitting next to the can and… it's probably nothing." He said, not sure where he was going with it all.

"Well I didn't take it out. The garbage collectors came yesterday so… what's probably nothing?" she asked as the end of the conversation stuck in her mind.

"There was some green… I don't know… looked almost like spray paint… on the outside of the back. I thought maybe some kids tagged our garbage bags or something." He admitted.

"Why the world would they care about our trash?" Maxine asked as she headed towards the back door, signaling for Vincent to follow her. As they walked outside the supposed garbage bag was gone and Maxine looked back over her shoulder as Vincent stood puzzled. "What in the world…?"

"I just saw it like 5 minutes ago…" he insisted. "A black hefty bag with some bright green gunk on the outside… maybe one of the neighbors put it in the can?"

"_Our_ neighbors?" she scoffed, "Not likely, they haven't done anything decent for each other since you were a boy. Probably just some teenagers on a trash-stealing binge or some foolishness like that."

"You're probably right," Vincent said as he kissed her cheek, not at all convinced that this was what had really happened. Trash bags didn't just disappear, and teenagers didn't steal trash; it didn't make sense, but he tried to put it out of his mind as he headed inside the house, unaware that someone was watching them with a sly smile only 10 feet away.


	17. Mystery Man

"Peter, could you watch the boys for a little while? I'm trying to clean, but having them here is only making things worse." Gillian sighed into the phone as Walt started crying.

"Actually I'm… uh…" he hesitated; knowing what he had to say would come out sounding idiotic. "I'm babysitting."

"Did Lauren come home early?" she questioned.

"No, uh… I'm babysitting Amy. Mom got called away on a case and Vincent is out somewhere doing something. He needed to get away I think." Peter admitted. He knew his brother didn't tolerate sick people very well, and having him around while Amy was sick wouldn't make things any easier on any of them.

"You're babysitting your sister? Peter, she's a grown woman! You just don't want to take care of the boys, do you?" she was getting frustrated.

"Gillian, I'd watch them if I could, but I don't think you want them in a house full of germs; do you?" he knew playing in to her panicked mother side would be the best way to get him out of daddy-duty for the time being. He smiled to himself, her silence on the other end meant she was considering what he said. "But hey, if you want to bring them by, we could see what happens…"

There was no answer from the other end of the line. Peter was concerned for a moment, had she hung up on him or had something happened? It was then that he heard the front door knob jiggling. He got very worried very fast and walked over, gulping before he unlocked the door and swung it open. "Gillian? I thought we agreed…"

"Peter, I need you to do this, and I knew the only way I could get you to do it would be to bring them over here. I can't understand why you wouldn't want to spend time with the boys. You know they love you!" Gillian attempted to use guilt to get here way, but before she could work her angle any more, they were stopped as they heard a quiet call from upstairs. "Who was that?"

"Probably Amy, I told you I was babysitting her." Peter sighed as Gillian put the boys into a playpen and followed him cautiously up the stairs. "After last night, did you really think I would be making this up?"

His name was called again, quite softly, and they began to make their way down the hall quicker. "Amy?"

She stood in the middle of her room, hunched over, with a blanket surrounding her frail frame. Her face was white, her lips almost a shade of blue, and she was shaking where she stood. "Peter…"

Gillian took one look at her and snapped into mother-mode, commanding Peter to go downstairs and take care of the boys. "Amy, let's get you back to bed."

"No… no… I…" she trailed off. It was hard to think and she couldn't figure out how to express what she needed; the words wouldn't come out.

"I think bed is the best place for you, come on, you can lean on me." Gillian reassured her as she helped move Amy towards the bed. She could tell how warm her sister-in-law was even standing a couple feet away from her. Sitting her down on the bed, she looked down and saw Amy's cell phone sitting open on the floor. "Did someone call?"

The phone began vibrating and ringing again, and if it was possible, Amy went paler. She was, it seemed, terrified of the phone. Gillian nonchalantly picked it up, "Amy Gray's phone… no, she's unable to come to the phone right now. May I take a message? And what is this regarding? Does she have your…"

Trembling, Amy looked to Gillian for answers. "Who?"

"Well that was strange. I think it was a man… he wanted to talk to you about some case I guess. He said he'd meet with you soon enough… whatever that means, but he didn't leave a number." Gillian looked over at Amy who was now crying, what had she said wrong?


End file.
